What is a Ruby lambda?

Can you explain what a Ruby lambda is?

A Ruby lambda is a way to define a block of code that can be stored in a variable and executed later. It's similar to a method but can take arguments.

How is a lambda different from a proc in Ruby?

The main difference is that a lambda checks the number of arguments passed to it, while a proc does not. This means a lambda will raise an error if the wrong number of arguments is provided.

Can you give me an example of how to use a lambda in Ruby?

Sure! Here's a simple example: my_lambda = ->(x) { x * 2 } and you can call it with my_lambda.call(5) which will return 10.

Are there any performance differences between using lambdas and methods?

Generally, lambdas can be slightly slower than methods due to the overhead of creating a Proc object, but the difference is usually negligible for most applications.